Alas! Poor Helen
Happy Fourth of July to all my American readers. For everyone else, I hope you have a good day even if you don't have a three-day weekend.
Before I go any farther, I will assure you that Helen the loom is recovering nicely after the events in this post which happened in mid-June. She is ornery as ever, but we're making it work.
For those just joining us, Helen the loom, and her sister, Elizabeth the loom, are named after my grandmother, Helen Elizabeth who owned the looms before me. They have been both a cause of joy and frustration to me. In June, I began weaving on Helen the loom again after a several year hiatus.
I might add that with a few frustrations, it was actually a fairly enjoyable time, until the afternoon of 17 June when one of her string snapped quite unexpectedly. In the photo below, you can see the make-shift sling I have holding the shafts up.
In the photograph at the very top, you can see the string which snapped. It's the top right string, the hole of which is seen in the top right hand corner of the lower photograph. For those unfamiliar with counterbalance looms, the string that broke is connected to the rod that holds all the shafts, in essence the spine of the shafts.
Due to the fact that the string broke, I made the decision to take the loom apart and re-fashion it again, hopefully stopping some of the troubles that I had. The photo below is the photograph taken after stringing the loom back together.
With the loom together, I prepared to dress the loom, but I had a slight problem: only one shaft worked, and only a portion at that. In fact, I snapped one of the strings connected the treadle to the first shaft. I knew what the problem was on the first two shafts (closest to the camera), but the second two shafts were a problem.
In their case, the left side of the shafts went down like they're supposed to while the right side remained stuck. The same was also true when I pressed Treadles 3 & 4 down, except it was at the top beam where they sank.
Curious situation to say the least.
Small mercies, I suppose.
I began weaving overshot (a first for me), and find that it takes too long with the way the loom is set up. I think I will save overshot for when I have Elizabeth the loom in working order. She has six treadles whereas Helen the loom only has four. It makes it difficult to weave the overshot pattern which requires one pattern shed followed by a tabby shed to be woven in an easy manner.
That being said, the current warp will be taken off (again) and I will re-thread the loom in the bird's eye pattern. Oh the joys of repairing looms.
Before I go any farther, I will assure you that Helen the loom is recovering nicely after the events in this post which happened in mid-June. She is ornery as ever, but we're making it work.
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| Helen the Loom |
She Breaks
I might add that with a few frustrations, it was actually a fairly enjoyable time, until the afternoon of 17 June when one of her string snapped quite unexpectedly. In the photo below, you can see the make-shift sling I have holding the shafts up.
Surgery
Due to the fact that the string broke, I made the decision to take the loom apart and re-fashion it again, hopefully stopping some of the troubles that I had. The photo below is the photograph taken after stringing the loom back together.
With the loom together, I prepared to dress the loom, but I had a slight problem: only one shaft worked, and only a portion at that. In fact, I snapped one of the strings connected the treadle to the first shaft. I knew what the problem was on the first two shafts (closest to the camera), but the second two shafts were a problem.
In their case, the left side of the shafts went down like they're supposed to while the right side remained stuck. The same was also true when I pressed Treadles 3 & 4 down, except it was at the top beam where they sank.
Curious situation to say the least.
More Surgery
I re-threaded the string needed for the first two shafts to work, and they did ... ish. Needless to say that Helen the loom has problems. Fortunately, however, those problems are easily dealt with, though they do not make for easy weaving. In fact, I ended up breaking one of the strings holding the third and fourth heddles up. Nothing remains even except for the weaving.Small mercies, I suppose.
I began weaving overshot (a first for me), and find that it takes too long with the way the loom is set up. I think I will save overshot for when I have Elizabeth the loom in working order. She has six treadles whereas Helen the loom only has four. It makes it difficult to weave the overshot pattern which requires one pattern shed followed by a tabby shed to be woven in an easy manner.
That being said, the current warp will be taken off (again) and I will re-thread the loom in the bird's eye pattern. Oh the joys of repairing looms.
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